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Verney Laxter
In Biggles on the Home Front, Verney Laxter was a pilot who worked for master criminal Eustace Carlton, also known as "The Count". During World War 2, Laxter had been a pathfinder bomber pilot. How he came to be emloyed after the war by "The Count" is not stated but by the time of the events in the book, he had become actively involved in flying operations from headquarters of "The Count" at the Gortons, a large house in Hertfordshire where an Auster J1 Autocrat was based. He fly his master to and from England and also "fenced" the proceeds of jewel robberies which had been organised by "The Count" by flying the them overseas where they could be safely sold. As the scale of the operations increased, Laxter was soon looking for another pilot and so approached his wartime squadron mate William Reverley, at that time, the chief flying instructor of the South Wessex Flying Club. Reverley was not keen to accept the job, as the description led him to suspect that not everything was above board and he did not wish to risk his flying licence. However he and Laxter had a chance encounter with Biggles at a hotel restaurant in Hertford and he suggested that Biggles might be the man for the job. By that time, of course, Biggles was no stranger to Laxter. Undercover as one "Ted Walls", Biggles had been trying to make contact with a fence to sell off a supposedly stolen emerald and its mount. Laxter had made contact with Biggles to buy his mount and had met him at Victoria Station to make the transaction. During the encounter at Hertford, Reverley had blurted out Biggles' real name and had said that he heard he had joined the police. Biggles managed to laugh this off, but whether this aroused suspicions in Laxter about Biggles' bona fides is not known. Certainly, Laxter came to the conclusion that Reverley already knew too much and might talk too freely. Thus Laxter sabotaged Reverley's aircraft by adding sugar to his fuel tank. Reverley crashed shortly after departing the Gortons on his way to his home club. Laxter then turned up at the crash site trying to nose around to see whether the authorities would conclude that foul play had been involved. Algy, at the crash site, was angry that Laxter would tamper with the aircraft of a fellow pilot and hiw squadron mate, and decided to rattle him a little by suggesting that the crash could well have been the result of sabotage. Laxter turned up later at the Clefton Hotel where Biggles had his lodgings and made a recruitment pitch which Biggles accepted. Whether he had already decided that Biggles was a spy was not known, but during this meeting, he saw Biggles carrying an envelope with "O.H.M.S." on it and this might have increased his suspicions. Laxter turned up a day later to pick Biggles and Ginger up and had them driven to the Gortons. This time, gloves were off. On arrival, Eustace Carlton confronted them and accused them of being police spies. They would be locked in the house and the place burnt down to remove evidence. The gang would then clear out. Fortunately, Biggles had kept Gaskin in the loop and Scotland Yard had thrown a cordon around the house. As Laxter started up his Auster engine to await his passenger, "The Count", Gaskin signaled for the raid to begin and Algy ad Bertie converged on the aircraft. With police closing in, Laxter decided to abandon his employer and escape alone. However Bertie stepped in front of the aircraft, sidestepped, caught the strut to swerve it and then shot out the tyres, causing it to crash into some trees whereupon it burst into flames. Laxter yelled for help but the Scotland Yard men could not approach the burning wreckage because of the heat. On learning about thisBiggles observed that the way Laxter had died was exactly what he had tried to do to Reverley, who thought he was his friend. "I'm beginning to think there must be such a thing as just retribution," he concluded. In the short story, Biggles Learns Something, there will be another Laxter, referenced as a one-time second pilot to Erich von Stalhein. This must be a different person. Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Air Police era characters